Teen Retreat 2016
By the Camp Wannaklot Leaders in Training
Teen Retreat 2016 started with an early morning check-in at the HoG office. It was a cold morning, but it did not matter. We were heading to Panama City Beach, Florida! As the Leaders in Training, our first order of business was meeting with Ms. Deniece (Deniece Chevannes, HoG’s Director of Health Promotion and Evaluation) to discuss our photo/vlog (a blog in which the postings are primarily in video form) journaling project. We decided that we would record our experiences on the trip, document all the fun and interesting facts along the way, and ask the other teens about living with a bleeding disorder.
The bus ride to Panama City Beach was fun! Usually, we get on the bus and watch movies, talk with our friends and catch up, or take naps. This time, most of the teens on the bus were interested in the first movie we watched. It was based on the real story of teens from an underperforming high school in Arizona who got together and started a school robot club. They entered a national underwater robotics competition and against all kind of challenges won! It was awesome and helped set the tone when we asked questions for our journaling project to the teens on the retreat.
The first question we asked was, “What do you want to tell other people about living with a bleeding disorder?” Some of the answers we got were interesting but most of the teens on the retreat mentioned that living with a bleeding disorder is okay and you have to learn to adapt. As one teen put it, “living with a bleeding disorder is not difficult and it gets easier.” For him, in particular, having very supportive parents has been a key part of his comfort level as he’s grown up with a bleeding disorder.
We also wanted to know, “What in your life or community has helped you live/grow as a teen with a bleeding disorder?” Most teens said that their parents and family have helped them cope with their bleeding disorder. One teen said, “acceptance and HoG” helped him. When we asked him to explain, he said that making friends at Camp Wannaklot and going on Teen Retreat and other events helps him know there are other kids like him who understand what he is going through.
Once we arrived at Panama City Beach, the first priority was going to the beach! The sand was fine and looked sugar white, and it was cold! That did not really matter; we still took our shoes off, dipped our toes in the water and played beach volleyball. Some of us made signs in the sand, and we all took a group picture.
Sunday morning, we all got on the bus again and headed to Walton County to work on our service project. We worked with the local AmeriCorps group to bag oyster shells to create reefs that help provide a habitat for marine life, filter tons of water and prevent erosion. It was hard work shoveling the oyster shells and then bagging them in the PVC containers and tying off the knots, but we did it. After we completed that part of the project, the AmeriCorps leaders took us to the site where the bags we put together would be used. We saw where the bags are placed and learned that new oysters will settle on the bagged shells and the structure will then become a thriving oyster reef.
After lunch we headed out to Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Wonderworks. There were great activities like the laser maze, laser tag and glowing ropes course. We also got to participate in the roller-coaster simulator and had to find our way through a mirror maze. We enjoyed dinner at Margaritaville, where a pirate on stilts made balloon animal hats for all of us.
We ended the evening with a highly competitive game of Bleeding Disorder Pictionary. Imagine someone gives you the word “deductible” and you have to figure out how to draw it! Some of the words were easier, like “port” or “factor” or “camp.” It was a hotly contested battle to the finish!
Teen Retreat 2016 was AMAZING!!! Thank you so much HoG for allowing us and other teens with bleeding disorders to have a chance to go to Panama City Beach. We had so much fun giving back to the community and enjoying all the fun activities. Thanks for everything, not just this getaway.